


Taako's Moving Castle

by Cards_Against_My_Patience



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, fuck yeah howls moving castle au, i totally just wanted to do this for fluff, i've been marathoning miyazaki and i needed to do this it was too perfect, kravitz is a shy and dorky hat seller, taako is a flamboyant wizard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2018-12-06 12:44:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11600928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cards_Against_My_Patience/pseuds/Cards_Against_My_Patience
Summary: Kravitz, A shy hat shop employee in Phandalin, through some unusual circumstances, meets a wizard and is cursed to roam the world as a skeleton all in one day. Not knowing where to go he goes on a journey to the outskirts of the town, stumbling into the wizard Taako's magical moving castle.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> watching miyazaki movies non stop for the last few days and being absolutely in love with the adventure zone leads to compulsive au's for my favorite ship.

The noise melted away as he concentrated. It was a simple task he did day by day, stick and pull the needle through to sew on embellishments to the hats. Stick and pull, stick and pull. It wasn’t his dream but it kept a roof over his head and food on the table. A soft knock came from the door frame and he turned this head to see who it was. Hurley, one of the workers at the shop stood there with a smile. “Kravitz? We just closed the shop for the day and we’re going out on the town. You’ve done enough work for one day, do you want to join us?”

 

Kravitz smiled, looking back at the hat in his hands as he continued to stitch. “I’d better finish this, I don’t like leaving work unfinished.”

 

“Are you sure?” Hurley questioned, “You always work so much.”

 

Kravitz let out a small laugh, “I’ll be fine, you go have fun.”

 

Hurley shrugged and turned to exit the door. “Okay, but the offer is always on the table.”

 

Kravitz returned to his work as he heard the women in the next room preparing to leave. A shout from the next room made him jolt in his seat, pricking his finger with the needle in hand. He hissed and instinctively licked it to try and seal up the tiny wound. He turned his head to look out the door and sure enough all the women had run to the window, all chattering about what they saw. “Look! It’s the wizard Taako’s castle!”

 

Kravitz knew this conversation all too well. The wizard Taako and his enchanted castle which roamed the outskirts of Phandalin was always a topic of conversation in this town. The fantastic moving contraption was a sight to behold when not hidden in the fog. Taako himself was also an interesting character. He was reclusive, hiding his castle in the fog whenever palace planes flew by but so many stories circulated about him from all cities. The choice gossip for today was that Taako had torn out the heart of a handsome man from a town called Ravensroost. As the women shared stories and it melted into the white noise of the town one thing stuck out to Kravitz making him stop his work.

 

“Well now I’m too scared to go out. I don’t want my heart stolen by anyone!”

 

“Well lucky you, he only preys on beautiful men and you aren’t either of those.“

 

A chorus of laughter sounded at the playful teasing and soon vanished as the door to the shop closed with a click reverberating through the building. A final few stitches and the hat Kravitz was working on was done. He discarded it onto a mannequin head and looked at the pile of undecorated hats to his side. He sighed. This really wasn’t his dream.

 

He got up and brushed off the apron uniform he wore before taking it off and hanging it on a hook. He grabbed his own hat, a simple black one and headed out himself. He gave himself a quick once over in the mirror, trying to build up self confidence in his looks. He never liked people staring at him while in public for, what he assumed, was his lack of attractive features. A tired groan left him as he stared at his face. Nothing special, nothing handsome just…. Plain.

 

He was not a vain person in the slightest, however the typical fault of finding self confidence through attractiveness had in fact taken hold of him. Though he knew beauty wasn’t everything, there was no mistaking that it was highly valued. 

 

He left the shop, locking the door after him and catching a trolley. The transport was unusually crowded, likely due to people wanting to get to the parade for the military, so he hung on tightly to the railing on the side as to not take up much space. Wind flew through his dreadlocks as the car sped through the streets eventually making a full stop due to being blocked by the festivities of the parade.

 

He got off the trolley and headed through back streets as not to get caught up in the commotion of men, women and children shouting with joy as the army marched past. He passed through the alleys, not fully focusing on his surroundings and instead on a note he pulled from his pocket his friend Ren had given him. Then he stopped and looked when he realized he had almost run into some men in military uniforms. 

 

“Excuse me, I’m sorry.” He said, nervously putting on an accent. 

 

One of the men stepped closer, “No need to be such a shy mouse. Did you get lost?”

 

“N-No I know where I’m going, just please excuse me.”

 

The other man nudged his friend in the side, “We should take him out for some tea, he looks thirsty.”

 

Kravitz coughed, “No thank you, my friend is expecting me.”

 

The second man leaned down, “I’d say he’s more of a cute rabbit than a mouse.” The first one laughed and looked Kravitz up and down with a smile, “So, you live around here?”

 

Kravitz rolled his eyes, exasperated at the sad excuse for flirting. “Please leave me alone.”

 

The first man looked at his friend, “See you annoy everyone you come across.” The second one smiled, “So? I think he’s cuter when he’s annoyed.”

 

Kravitz stepped back, these assholes needed to get a clue. Right before he was going to say he wasn’t interested a hand rested on his shoulder and he felt a presence behind him. “There you are kemosabe, been looking everywhere for you.”

 

The military men gave a harsh look to the man who had just spoken, “Hey, we’re kind of busy here, you mind?”

 

“Really?” The mysterious man said, a small laugh accentuating his words. “I’d say you dorks were just leaving.” And with a flick of his finger the military men stood at attention and turned to march away, both letting out confused yelps. No doubt they were under the control of magic. When this realization dawned on Kravitz he looked to his side, seeing an elven man, slightly shorter than him by a few inches or so with light brown skin, one purple eye and long iridescent lavender hair tied into a braid. “Sorry about those guys, though they aren’t all that bad. Need to learn a few things about personal space.” He smiled up at Kravitz who stood dumbstruck at, who he was sure was a wizard. 

 

“Hello? Buddy are you just gonna stare? I mean yeah it’s not everyday you meet someone like me so I can’t blame you. Still I gotta get moving so why don’t I just take you to where you need to go. Be your escort or some shit.”

 

Kravitz was amazed at the nonchalant nature of this man. He was very interesting and though he could get to the bakery on his own… he was so fascinated by this elf he wanted to stay by him a bit longer. “I’m… just going to the bakery I-”

 

“Ah baked goods, my favorite. Excellent taste.” He leaned in closer whispering into Kravitz’s ear “Act natural thug, I’m being followed.” And grabbed his arm, keeping a fast but steady pace as they walked.

 

Suddenly, inky creatures looking like black opal started melting out of the walls ahead and behind them. Kravitz noticeably tensed up as the elf he was with sighed, “Well fuck, looks like we’re both in the shit now.”

 

They quickly turned a corner, more inky black opal creatures following them, picking up the pace as they did until they eventually launched into a run. “Hold on tight handsome, we’re gonna have to take some action, unless you want those gross assholes tentacling your dick.”

 

Just as they were about to be overtaken by the creatures, Kravitz felt his feet leave the ground and he was suddenly high above the street below. Panic shot through him at the realization he was levitating in the air and he felt two hand grab onto his from behind. “Oh dang son have you never been flying before? Just straighten your legs and start walking, I’ll take care of the rest.”

 

Kravitz did as instructed and felt himself moving through the air. It was a remarkable feeling of weightlessness and quickly his fear turned into excitement as they danced in the sky above the festivities in the streets.

 

The elf leaned in, smiling brightly as he had been all day, Kravitz finally noticing a cute gap in his teeth. “Handsome and a natural at levitation. Hot damn I got lucky finding you.”

Kravitz can’t help but blush as they slowly drift down to the balcony of the bakery Ren works at. He swiftly lands on the balcony, hand still in the hold of the elf. “Stay inside for a bit fella, don’t want you getting hurt by the hunger.”

 

“Okay.” Kravitz mumbles, as their fingers untangle from each other. 

 

“That’s my boy.” The elf says, a small laugh leaving his lips as he flips his braid over his shoulder before backflipping of the railing of the balcony. Kravitz jolts and quickly rushes to lean over the balcony, not seeing the elf at all, the street below undisturbed as if he had never been there.

 

Kravitz can feel his heart beating out of his chest as he clutches his shirt. Was that even real or just an incredibly vivid day dream. A slight smile spreads on his face. Whatever it was, it was wonderful.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just call me "mx. was way too eager to write more taakos moving castle so they wrote a short chapter instead of doing their summer school work"

Ren ran up the stairs, her apron fluttering behind her. She bursted into the hallway and saw Kravitz looking out the window, a dreamy look on his face. “Kravitz there you are!” she yelled, running up to him and giving him a huge bear hug. “Someone told me you flew out of the sky and landed on the balcony! What the hell happened?”

 

Kravitz stares wistfully out the window again, blinking slowly, obviously still dazed. “So it was real, it wasn’t a dream.”

 

They talked a bit as they went down the stairs to sit together in the store room of the bakery. Ren absolutely shocked when Kravitz describes what had happened. “Kravitz, Oh my god! He was definitely a wizard.”

 

Kravitz smiles a bit, “He was surprisingly nice to me.”

 

Ren leaned forward, “Of course he was! He’s a wizard, he was trying to steal your heart. You’re lucky, if it was Taako he would’ve eaten it! I hear he’s an amazing chef so at least your heart would taste good… Wait that’s not the point, the point it it’s dangerous! I heard there’s a new wizard out on the prowl stealing hearts for no other purpose than to grow.”

 

Kravitz laughed at Ren’s worked up demeanor in the moment, “Ren don’t worry, no one’s going to steal my heart. Especially not Taako, he only does that to handsome men remember?”

 

Ren pouts, “Stop putting yourself down! You look fine. Besides you’ve got a big heart, to wizards you probably look like a gourmet cupcake in a dessert case they crave you so much.”

 

A box slides out of the large array next to Ren, poking her face into the area is a young girl, “Ren, I need you to help me out here in a second, we’ve got the dinner rush coming.”

 

“Okay June, be there in a second.” Ren said, getting up and patting off her apron. “I’ll see you out Kravitz.”

 

When they exit out the back door the haze of twilight is already setting in. After a final hug from Ren she says, “Hey Kravitz… Are you sure you still want to be working at the hat shop? I know you want to be a conductor and-”

 

“I’m fine Ren, thanks for the sentiment but Raven is my friend and she was nice enough to give me this work. I’m fine with it. It’s good money and I get my own room.”

 

Ren frowns at him, “Kravitz. Just do something for yourself for once in your life, you’re not getting any younger.”

 

These words echo in his mind as he catches a trolley back to the hat shop. While it is true he’s not fully satisfied with the life he’s living he asks himself, what else is there to do?

 

Returning to the hat shop Kravitz locked the door, took off his hat and set it on the rack next to the door. He only took a few steps before he heard the familiar chime of the door opening. He turned back absolutely confused, looking at a fifty year old man with salt and pepper hair. “I… could’ve sworn I locked that door. Do you need something sir?”

 

The man, dressed to the brim in formal clothing gazes over the inventory of the store, a snide smile spreading across his face. “Very cheap hats. Not necessarily the kind of quality you’d expect from a place so busy. Of course I guess I can’t say everyone has taste.” He looks Kravitz up and down. “You’re just as plain as the rest of the things here.”

 

Kravitz, annoyed for the second time that day, clenches his fingers into his hand and puts on an obviously fake smile. “I’m sorry sir but you’ll have to leave. We’re closed and I don’t want your patronage if you’re just going to insult the work put in.”

 

Suddenly Kravitz feels himself go still, his legs feel heavy as if he can’t move and he realizes he’s being wrapped in the same inky black opal matter he saw earlier that day. He gasps, trying to pull his legs out of it, “W-What?” He looks up, eyes locking with the man in front of him whose eyes have gone dark, face cracking like glass.

 

“I don’t know if I should call it stupid or brave to stand up to The Hunger."  He muttered as the black opal sludge starts crawling up Kravitz’s legs, to this torso and his arms as he struggles and tries to stay floating above the oily substance. “The best part about this curse is that you can’t tell anyone about it.” The man, The Hunger stated.

 

Kravitz almost let out a scream but his head was pulled underneath before he could even take a breath. The last words he hears before the world goes dark is “Send my regards to the IPRE.”


	3. Chapter 3

Kravitz woke up on the floor. His body aching all over with a pain he had never known before. After regaining feeling in his limbs he slowly stood up, wobbling a bit before steadying himself on the cashier counter. His vision was blurry and he staggered over to the mirror, just to try and see if he had a gash on his head or any head injuries from his encounter with The Hunger. 

 

He never expected that what would stare back at him would be a milky white skull with red lights in the eye sockets dressed to the brim in everything he had been wearing that day. He staggers back, hands grabbing at his face, hoping to feel flesh or something to let him know this was a dream. But his hands, more specifically his phalanges, felt nothing but bone.

 

He was hyperventilating, looking in the mirror and with a shout cried, “That’s really me isn’t it?” 

 

He began pacing around the room, trying to get a grip on the situation he was in. His hands went to tangle in his dreadlocks out of habit but he realized he didn’t have hair anymore. He didn’t have to breathe anymore. Worst of all, he couldn’t feel his heartbeat anymore. 

 

He catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror again, stuttering and repeating over and over to himself, “I’ve got to stay calm. I’ve got to stay calm.” He rushed back to his room in the shop and locked the door the second he entered, laying down under the sheets on his bed and praying that this was a bad dream and when he woke up he would have his skin again.

 

That wish did not come true. When the rays of light brushed over him in the morning the first thing he did was look at his hands. They were still just bone. However, after a good rest the fear and terror of being a living skeleton didn’t seem to set in again. Though a lingering feeling of this being ridiculously odd stayed. “Okay,” He muttered, realizing his voice echoed more than normal, “I should probably find a way to fix this…”

 

He jumped when he heard a knock at the door, the familiar voice of his friend Raven coming through it. “Kravitz. I’m back from visiting Istus in Neverwinter. Can I come in?”

 

Kravitz quickly threw a blanket over himself and turned away from the door. He tried to make his voice sound as scratchy as possible before speaking, “No Raven, please go away. I’m, uh, I’m really sick and I don’t want you to catch what I have.”

 

Raven grimaced, “You sound like you died. Do you need anything? I wouldn’t want you to get sicker.”

 

“No I’m fine!” Kravitz shouts back. “Go enjoy yourself I’ll be okay on my own.”

 

He waited at least a half an hour before he left the room, a heavy cloak over his shoulders and a hood over his head. He went to the kitchen, grabbing a large hunk of cheese and a loaf of bread. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure he even needed to eat in the body he now had but the possibility made him pack it. It was better to be safe when he wasn’t sure about the way this curse would now affect his life. Or… was he technically dead in this case?

 

He eventually left the shop, a small bag of supplies strapped around his hipbone. He pulled the cloak close over his face and walked quietly through the streets trying his hardest to not bring any attention to himself. The only person he talked to before leaving the city was a man named Avi who offered to take him to the rolling hills outside Phandalin. They arrived at a small cabin and Avi encouraged him to stay as not to get attacked by bandits or wizards. Kravitz respectfully declined as continued on his journey.

 

He wasn’t sure exactly where he should go. He knew he had to find a way to break the curse placed on him but he wasn’t sure who or what could do that. After a quick stop to rest and eat, (as he discovered he could eat, but was fully unaware of where the food went) he looked back from where he had come realizing he really hadn’t gotten far from Phandalin at all. The realization made him groan. Knowing the sun was setting soon he was worried about the possibility of bandits or other unsavory things attacking him while on his own.

 

After a bit more traveling he noticed a large pole sticking out of a berry bush. “Hmm,” He mumbled to himself, walking up to the bush. “This could make a good staff.” He took off his hood and began to try and pull the stick from the bush. Even after tugging for a few minutes he realized it wouldn’t budge. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the fact he had no muscles or if the pole was tied up too tightly in the brambles. 

 

He took off his cloak, tied one end to the stick and after gathering up all of his strength took one final tug. He fell back as it finally released from it’s place in the bush, flinging high into the air and over his head. He was flat on his back and looked up into the sky and slowly got up. When he looked to where the stick had landed he realised it wasn’t a stick. 

 

Dressed in a red robe, with a cotton white shirt, studded belt and navy blue denim jeans stood a turnip headed scarecrow. Kravitz smiled a bit, “Oh sorry, I thought you were just a stick, but how are you standing on your own?” Suddenly the scarecrow jumped, jostling the glasses on it’s face. 

 

Kravitz yelped as the scarecrow bounded over to him. “You’re… alive… Okay, not the strangest thing I’ve encountered in the last twenty four hours….” The scarecrow spun in place before bouncing again. Kravitz laughed a bit, “You’re dressed incredibly casual for a scarecrow. Well… I’m sorry I bothered you. Goodbye.”

 

The scarecrow jumped again, a bit more forceful than the time before.

 

Kravitz continued on his way, hoping to find a good place to stay for the night before he heard the hopping behind him, the red robed scarecrow bounding up fast. “Oh, Hello again. No need to come here, you don’t owe me anything. You’re probably cursed too and I’ve had enough with curses and magic to last a lifetime.”  Then he noticed small scythe in the scarecrow’s hand. He hopped over and dropped it at Kravitz’s feet. “Thank you!” Kravitz said picking up the scythe. It was surprisingly lightweight in his hands and easy to swing. “I can really use this...Hey actually, if you could do me one more favor. I could really use a place to stay.”

 

The scarecrow hopped away again, past Kravitz and into the distance. It took another hour of walking before Kravitz came across his friend again. However the noise of hopping the scarecrow normally made was drowned out the sound of metal gears and cogs turning, steam leaving pipes and other mechanical sounds. The realization dawned on him when he saw over the horizon the quickly approaching shape of the wizard Taako’s castle.

 

“Shit!” Kravitz yelled, looking up at the scarecrow with panic, “I didn’t mean- Thank you I just- augh,” He groaned, hitting his skull with a boney hand. The castle was approaching faster and Kravitz realized that the scarecrow was bouncing with tremendous repetition, almost urging Kravitz to enter.

 

His eye sockets darted between the castle and his acquaintance before impulsively deciding to go for it and enter. He found a small door entrance directly under the giant contraption, which, after a bit of fumbling with the handle, opened. 

 

The heat from the inside was powerful. Kravitz felt warmth for the first time that day. He turned his head back to look at his friend. “I’m going to go inside. Thank you for everything.”

 

He lept into the door and closed it, noticing right away how strange the inside was. Though he knew the castle was moving, nothing on the interior gave off that impression. In fact it was almost scarily still, except for a flickering fire on the hearth. Kravitz headed over, sitting in the chair pulled out in front of it.

 

The glow from the fire was bright, small hues of red, orange yellow and purple flickering throughout. He continued to look around at the room and it was surprisingly filthy. “They call this a castle? It’s a mess.”

 

“Yeah my brother has a hard time cleaning up.” A voice said coming out of nowhere. Kravitz began looking around for the source of the voice before it spoke again, “Down here, skelly-man.”

 

Staring up at Kravitz from the hearth, were two eyes, one brown and one purple. “Nasty curse there fella. At least with my problem I get to be hot, literally.”

 

Kravitz raised a skeletal finger, “You… talked.”

 

“Psh, of course I did. What, never met a lich before?” Flickers of embers raised and swirled around. 

Kravitz mumbled, “Are you Taako?”

 

The fire flickered as if annoyed, the face upon it rolling it’s eyes, “I didn’t think people’d still be mistaking me for him when I am ball of fire. No, I’m his twin sister, Lup.”

 

“Taako has… a sister.” 

 

“Of course. My baby brother would have no where near the amount of magical prowess he does if not for yours truly.”

 

“Wait how do you know I-” Kravitz stopped there, desperately trying to say the word cursed but realizing all he heard come out of his own mouth was static. 

 

“Oh boy, does it not let you talk about it? Well solving your problem is most likely going to be a little tricky. ‘Course it’ll go smoother if you could help me out.”

 

“What do you need help with?” 

 

“Oh well see, I’ve tried a bit of everything to get out of this fire. My attempts to get out, not working too well. The nerd who is most likely to help me solve this problem is missing and…” Lup trails off looking to the side before snapping her attention back to Kravitz, “If you can help them figure out a way to get me out of here I’ll owe you big time bucko.”

 

“So I help you, you help me?”

 

“Of course! Would a lady you met five minutes ago after breaking into her home lie to you?”

 

Kravitz hesitates for a moment, not sure if her sarcasm was intended or not. “I’ll try to help as best I can. I’m not a magic user though so I don’t know how much I can do.”

 

Lup crackles, obviously happy. Kravitz sits in the chair, enjoying the soft glow before dozing off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heh, i need to get better at writing lup. never written her before.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit this took longer than intended due to an impromptu vacation my parental authority made me take to my cousins house for a week. however i have good news, i'm done with summer school! finished with an a and am pretty fucking happy. i'll be trying to bust out chapters as much as possible in this last week before school starts for you guys but i'm sorry if it isn't as much as i want. i may just write a bunch so i can have a backlog and actually have an update schedule. i'm not sure so please let me know what you'd rather have.

Kravitz awoke to the sound of movement and a pounding at the door. The light tapping of feet down a staircase made him stir. Taking a quick glance at the stairs he saw a small boy, no more than eleven, dressed in nice clothing. A tiny wand bounced on his side. Quickly he pretended to still be asleep.

 

He could feel the presence of someone looming over him as a small gasp echoed through the house. “Miss Lup is that a skeleton?”

 

The knocking at the door became more intense. Lup’s voice rang out, an obvious hint of boredom present. “Goldcliff door.”

 

The boy halted at attention and quickly took his wand casting a disguise spell. He transformed into an older figure, with a beard. However, when speaking he retained the voice of a child doing his best imitation of an adult. 

 

The sound of the door swinging open could be heard from where Kravitz sat as he listened to the conversation, “Captain Captain Bane. Hello sir, what can we do for you.”

 

“Hello, is the wizard Justin Kessler here?”

 

“I’m afraid not sir, I can take a message if you want.”

 

“No need, just give this to him. An invitation from the-” the next words sounded like static. Kravitz started to stand up, wondering what in the world was making that noise. 

 

The door then closed shut and the boy ran back up to the fireplace to look at him in shock. “What is a  _ living _ skeleton doing here Miss Lup!”

 

Kravitz glanced between the boy and Lup, stuttering a bit as he tried to come up with a reasonable answer. “Lup invited me in!” 

 

She flared up at that comment, “Hey buddy you broke in here on your own!”

 

“Well I was able to get in when the scarecrow led me here from Phandalin! It’s not like the door was locked.”

 

The boy dropped his disguise spell as he marched over to Kravitz, obvious curiosity on his face. “You’re not here for trouble are you?”

 

Lup scoffed, obviously in a joking manor, “Angus please. I hope you’d have enough faith in me to know I’d’ve already destroyed this fool if that was the case.”

 

The boy, Kravitz know knew as Angus, looked over at Lup embarrassed, “I’m sorry Lup I didn't mean to imply-”

 

A pounding came from the door again, “Goldcliff door again, Agnes.”

 

Angus quickly donned his disguise again and ran to the door. A young woman stood in the doorway. “I’m here to pick up a potion?”

 

“Of course, right this way.” Angus said in his adult imitation. 

 

Kravitz slowly placed his hood over him again and shuffled to the window, he saw towering buildings and rivers converging into one pool. As Angus made his transaction Kravitz stared in amazement. “It’s not the fields…”

 

He felt a tug at his cloak and turned to see Angus. The kid tapping his foot slightly in his disguise. “I don’t think you should be moving around too much like that sir. At least not when people who don't live here are about. Not everyone is so used to living skeletons.”

 

Another knock at the door, “Neverwinter door!” Lup called, a bored tone to her voice.

 

Angus ran, opening the door and saying hello to someone named Carey. “Hey Angus, -” For the second time that day Kravitz heard static. “wanted me to give this to ‘Tuff Greg the wizard’” she said, emphasizing the name with air quotes and a wink.

 

“I’ll be sure to give it to him.”

 

“Alright, see ya later kiddo.” Carey said, giving a quick tussle to Angus’ hair.

 

The door closed again and Kravitz began to move around. He tentatively walked over to the door and opened it slightly, the streets of Neverwinter hustling and bustling. He shut it quickly and looked at the door handle, a tiny dial above it with different colours turned to a red section.  He grabbed it and turned to the blue section, the light in the windows changed in brightness slightly and Kravitz opened the door again. 

 

The sun was high in the sky and the tall buildings of Goldcliff towered above. Kravitz smiled, amazed by the teleportation magic on this interesting house. He tried the green dial last which lead him back to the hills outside of Phandalin.

 

He couldn’t help but let out an amused laugh before attempting to turn the dial to the black section, only stopped by Angus, no longer in his disguise, who ran in front of him, arms guarding the dial. “Stop that! You’re not allowed to use the black door.” he huffed, a look of annoyance on his face.

 

Kravitz quickly retracted his hand, an embarrassed look on his skeletal face, “Sorry, I’m just curious. I’ve never seen a house like this before.”

 

Angus sighed, “Well just don’t mess with anything please.” He walked over to a cluttered counter and pulled a wedge of cheese and loaf of bread from it. He began to walk over to a table before Kravitz stopped him. 

 

“What are you doing?” He questioned. 

 

Angus looked up, “Getting breakfast. I’m hungry sir.”

Kravitz walked over to the cluttered counter and began inspecting it. Easily coming across a basket of eggs and a covered plate of bacon. “Wouldn’t you rather have some of this?”

 

Angus nodded as he pushed things back on a table to make room to sit down, “Yes, but we can’t use the fire.”

 

Kravitz looked around and grabbed a long skillet hanging from the wall, “I’m not the best but I can cook us a breakfast.”

 

Angus began to protest, “Miss Lup doesn’t like anyone cooking with her unless it’s Taako. I think it’s because they’re siblings.”

 

Lup flared at the comment, “Right on the money Ango. We’ve always been a duo when it comes to cooking. ‘Sides it’s not like Magnus or Merle could make something half as good as we can.”

 

Kravitz looked back at her, “Please?”

 

“I’m a powerful lich and evocation wizard! I’m not just some fire for cooking I-”

 

“Didn’t you ask for my help to get out of that fire?”

 

Lup went silent before obviously glaring at Kravitz. “Angus pay attention, this is lesson one of why you should never let people into the house.”

 

Kravitz laughed a bit as he laid the skillet down on Lup, she still protested trying to push it back but eventually giving in. “Hey thug here’s another curse, may all your bacon burn.”

 

Angus tipped over a slight look of amazement on his face, not noticing the door opening. Kravitz suddenly felt a presence behind him and a hand on his shoulder and turned to see the same lavender haired wizard from the day before, who looked at him with a smirk and suspicious eyes. “‘Scuse me bone boy but what’re you doing to my sister?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in honor of me finishing summer school i'm also going to be posting a really stupid and fluffy taakitz fic either today or tomorrow so stay tuned!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ey everyone, just wanted to say i'm back in actual school now and so i'm gonna make a schedule for taako's moving castle. i'm gonna try and have a new chapter up every saturday but if homework gets too much i may need to skip a week. hope you guys enjoy. -cards

Kravitz stood awe struck at the sight before him. The elf he’d met before was Taako? If he had a heart anymore he knew it would be in his throat out of shock. He snapped out of his daze when he felt Taako’s hand on him, sending shock waves up his spine. “Mind grabbing some more of those eggs and bacon, homie?”

 

Kravitz slowly let go of the pan and moved back a bit, hands nervously quivering a bit as he got the things Taako requested. “Hey thug what’s your name? I wanna know how to credit you.” Taako said, not looking up from the pan as his sister helped cook the food.

 

Kravitz stared, confused at where their hands met when Taako reached for an egg before looking up at him. “Excuse me? What do you mean credit me?”

 

Taako glaced at him, flipping the bacon in the skillet with ease, “I wanna know how to credit you as assistance for this bomb ass breakfast I’m cooking up.”

 

Kravitz quickly scrambled for an answer, “I’m Kravitz, I’m here to clean. I just started work today.”

 

Taako smirked, obviously not buying his story but playing along. “Who hired you?”

 

“Your sister! She was telling me she didn’t like the clutter.”

 

Lup didn’t say anything but simply gave Kravitz an unamused glance as if to say ‘you really think  _ my brother _ is going to buy that?’

 

Taako laughed and waved his hand behind him at Angus, “Hey pumpkin, can you go wake up those losers upstairs for me?”

 

Angus nodded and ran up the stairs, the pitter of his feet echoing through the house. Kravitz stood still in a slightly awkward silence with Taako before hearing a loud thump on the floor above and a low groan. The sound of Angus’ voice rang through the house, “Taako’s home and he’s making breakfast. We also have a guest.”

 

Angus came running down the stars soon after and grabbed plates and utensils quickly chattering off to Taako, “By the way sir, while you were out you got two letters from-” Static. “-and they were sent to both of your covers in Neverwinter and Goldcliff. It must be pretty important.” 

 

The sound of feet pounding down the stairs drew Kravitz’s attention away from Angus as he looked over and noticed a tall human man who was very brawny rubbing the sleep out of his eyes followed by an obviously more exhausted dwarf. 

 

“Krav, meet my roommates.” Taako said, taking the skillet off of Lup and heading to the table where he divvied out breakfast.

 

Kravitz was greeted with a half awake wave from the man and an irritated groan from the dwarf. He was motioned to sit by Taako and did so at the cleared area next to Angus. The child than nudged him and held out some forks and spoons, “You can only have one since the rest are dirty.”

 

Kravitz took one from the boy and rubbed it off slightly with his cloak mumbling to himself, “Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me…”

 

The smell of the food at the table must’ve woken up the other two residents of the castle because quickly Kravitz was again greeted with remarks of “There’s a skeleton in the house.”

 

Taako rolled his eyes, looking at the human man. “Oh really Maggie, I had no clue.”

 

The dwarf mumbled something to the human across from him, “He must’ve been spared or somethin’. Like that guy in Refuge.”

 

Kravitz was about to speak up about his situation when Taako began to speak, “So handsome is that a note in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

 

Kravitz is glad he doesn’t have skin or blood at the moment or his face would be redder than anything. Kravitz shakes it off before realizing he did feel something in his side pocket. Slowly taking it out he see’s a note on black stationery folded into a smaller square. “What the-”

 

“Mind handing that over Krav?” Taako says, not dropping the smirk in his face.

 

He does and the second it touches Taako’s hand it crackles with black electricity before falling on the table and leaving cindering symbols engraved in the wood. Magnus and Merle both seem to snap fully awake at this and Angus looks in shock as well. Taako nudges Merle, “Communication with him is sort of your area of expertise, do you know what it says?”

 

The dwarf slowly looks over the scorched table, “You seven who have hidden the light. Soon it and this plane shall belong to me.”

 

“That’s not good for the table.” Taako mutters waving a hand over it and evaporating the marks. He turns to the others and quickly speaks, “Well while you handle that shit I’m gonna go have a bath. Lulu, mind heating up some hot water for me?”

 

Their playful bickering fades into the background as Angus tugs on Kravitz’s cloak and eyes him suspiciously. “You’re not secretly part of The Hunger are you?”

 

Kravitz can feel anger bubbling up inside him, “I would never work for that thing! That’s what made me-” and again he heard static. Only this time he realized it was coming from his mouth. He quickly clamps a skeletal hand over his face as the rest at the table turn to him with a look of shock and a bit of concern.

 

Kravitz groans, absolutely exasperated “Alright what it with the static!” 

 

There is a quick glance between everyone at the table as Magnus stands up, “Here let me get you something to fix that.” He quickly returns with a vial of something liquid and hands it to Kravitz. “Drink this.”

 

Kravitz hesitates for a moment, looking at the vial in his hands and looks up at Magnus with suspicious eyes, “Why should I trust you, I want a bit of an explanation first.”

 

Magnus smiles apoligetically, “Yeah sorry buddy but it doesn’t work like that. I can’t tell you even if i want to. You’re just gonna have to trust me. I promise it’s not gonna hurt you.”

 

Hesitantly, Kravitz does as instructed and suddenly his mind is racing, he’s remembering loads of information he doesn’t think he possibly could have forgotten. And Magnus speaks, “Now you’re not going to hear static. We’re the IPRE and we work with the Bureau of Balance. We’re trying to stop The Hunger from tearing your world apart.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back, back again, it's me: cards! that kid with no time management skills! ahaha so um, yeah! chapter 6 is finally here! i've actually got a really good chunk of the story finished now. like i've made sure to stock up on some chapters so i won't go for like... 5+ months without updating again... 
> 
> anyway, life may still be crazy but at least school is off my ass! speaking in front of like thousands of people this weekend is gonna be hell though. give it up for my crippling anxiety folks!
> 
> i hope you enjoy this next chapter, it's a little short but the next one is gonna be much longer.

Besides the cursory information Kravitz got from Magnus no one really made the effort to explain more to him. The secrecy, he admitted to himself, was quite annoying. If these people had anything to do with why the Hunger had cursed him he thought he deserved more than just knowing they were called the “IPRE”. It was frustrating, but they hadn’t given him any real reasons to not trust them.

With nothing else to do Kravitz decided to try and clean. He did say that’s what he was here to do after all. They seemed to be letting him stay and if he was to live here for the time being he wasn’t going to just accept the mess it currently was. Cleaning could also let him get out his frustrations.

He began to sweep the floors, mop, and dust everywhere as soon as breakfast was over. The others returned to their rooms, Angus being the only one to stay down to watch for more customers or letters. As Kravitz began trying to dust shelves Angus helped him, moving the large objects outside so he had more room to work. The cleaning wasn’t as difficult as expected. As a skeleton he didn’t have to worry about breathing in dust, the only bothersome thing being the cobwebs which would get tangled in his bones making him look like a halloween decoration. Kravitz couldn’t help but laugh slightly to himself when he realized how tangled in webs he was.

After about an hour of cleaning Kravitz began looking over at the hearth Lup was in. It was completely covered in ash, a large pile obscuring the slowly dwindling log of wood she was burning. She noticed Kravitz as he came over, “Ghost Rider, hey, so I know you’re busy but would you mind throwing another log in here for me?” 

Kravitz hummed an affirmation but didn’t get a log, simply taking a a pair of tongs to pick up the small and charred piece of wood Lup was currently using and setting it teetering above a small metal cup. “In a minute, I’m going to clear the ashes. It’s like no one’s cleaned this before. Lup flared at him, “Nononono, I need wood now. I’m going out!” 

Kravitz scraped the hearth, piling the ashes onto a sheet he wrapped up tightly. “You’ll be fine, I’m just going to be a minute.” he muttered, dragging the bag of ashes out the door, a cloak over himself as not to make it obvious he was a skeleton.  
Lup started to worry, the charred wood crumbling by the second, “Shit shit shi-” the wood cracked in half sending her flame body tumbling into the cup, a puff of smoke rising from the top. 

Kravitz returned to the hearth soon after he had removed the ashes to the street, dusting his hands together. “Alright Lup I’m ba-” he stopped in his tracks as he looked at Taako, a small blue ball of flame in his hand. He threw two logs into the hearth and gently blew on the fire in his hands as it pulsed to life with almost the rhythm of a beating heart. Kravitz was mesmerized by the action, knowing he was witnessing an amazing kind of magic. 

Taako gently laid the glowing ball of flame on the logs as they caught fire in an instant. “Kravitz.” he said causing the skeleton to be ripped back into reality. Taako looked at him, his face smiling but a feeling of something much more serious lied under the surface. “Y-yes?”

“Next time listen to my sister. I don’t want her going all lichy on us got that?” As Taako spoke the fire crackled with tiny sparks of red electricity, almost seeming to be recuperating itself. Taako gently flipped his hair to the side, Kravitz now noticing how different it looked. Taako had cut it much shorter, as it once fell down to his hips it was now resting at the middle of his back. Taking a tie, Taako began to braid it, looking past Kravitz and speaking, “Ango, would you mind making sure dead man walking here doesn’t get too carried away with his job?” 

Kravitz looked behind him noticing Angus nodding his head as Taako made his way to the door. “Are you going out now sir?” he asked. Taako simply made his way to the door, turning the key on the handle to the black section. The door opened to chilled air even being felt by Kravitz, everything pitch black beyond the threshold. Taako silently fell into the darkness, the door shutting quickly behind him.

Angus looked a bit unnerved raising shuffling past Kravitz as he looked at Lup, red electricity still crackling slightly. “Sir, what happened?” Lup blazed brighter at the question, “Oh nothing at all Angus, I just almost got smothered by the walking bag of bones here!” a serious bite to her voice, “If I go out… do you have any idea what’ll happen to my brother?”

Kravitz, normally one not to try and get into much confrontation, likely would’ve let this go if it was a normal day. Sadly for everyone involved this was not a normal day in the slightest. “I’m sorry, but how am I supposed to know how things work if no one has told me anything.” he muttered not caring if he was being rude at this point. He made his way to the stairs intent to finish the work he started clear. Angus quickly ran past him blocking his way “I can’t let you up here sir!” he said. Kravitz knew if he had skin he’d be smiling, this kid was really determined to do his job as well. 

“Whatever you don’t want me to clean you’d better hide it now.” he said. Angus looked at him and then over his shoulder, obviously calculating something in his mind, “Save my room for last!” he said, running up the stairs and shouting warning of Kravitz coming to the others in the house.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah, jesus that big event I had last saturday was crazy. even if you don't talk standing in front of thousands of people who have all their eyes locked on you is capital t terrifying. i also heard twins week is a thing? like i can just write a bunch of taaco twins fan fic this week for a tumblr event. may do that if anyone has some prompts they's like to see from it (just look up twins week on tumblr if you wanna see what i'm talking about)

The hallways of the house seemed even worse off than the living room. However Kravitz realized calling it a house was likely not accurate, as he walked through the halls it began to remind him more of cabins on a ship than any house he’d ever been in. He heard shuffling coming from different rooms, likely Angus and the others hiding their things before Kravitz could get to them. He decided to go for the closest door that was cracked open to see the damage inside. Kravitz nearly froze at the overwhelming bright colours seemingly stained into every surface. 

 

This was a bathroom, claimed by Taako, Kravitz assumed due to the overall feeling the mess had. Colours littered the walls, stained the tub, sink and toilet and the air had the very heavy and identifiable scent of spilled elderflower perfume, likely from one of the many bottles of colourful liquids, gels and dyes littered on wall shelves and scattered over the floor. Even without a nose Kravitz could smell it in the air, the steam rising from the hot water not drained from the tub also contributed to the overall stuffy and suffocating feeling the room had. 

 

Taking careful steps over bottles and discarded towels to the small window on the other side of the room Kravitz felt around for a latch so he could try and air out the room somewhat so the scent didn’t spread to the rest of the house. Finally locating the latch Kravitz unhooked it and struggled to open the stuck window in the frame. Finally coming loose it slammed quickly across it’s tracks, sending Kravitz off balance with the unexpected force.

 

After stumbling slightly he felt the dulled sensation of a rush of cold air flow over him as he looked out the window. The sight would’ve taken his breath away if he still had lungs to breathe. The outside wasn’t Goldcliff or Neverwinter. Instead it was the exterior of the moving castle that he’d entered just a day ago in the hills outside Phandalin. Wind rushed past him, making a small reverberating note as it passed the hollow features of his skull. 

 

Rolling hills decorated the landscape as the castle gently rocked back and forth, dancing precariously close to a cliff. At the faults bottom Kravitz could spot a shimmering river, rushing past and creating a white rapids. Trees and flowers dotted the hill sides and birds flew near the window, the bathroom outlooking the world being on one of the highest levels of the exterior castle frame. Kravitz stepped back absolutely stunned before running to the door frame of the bathroom and calling down the stairs. “Lup! Lup, are you the one moving the castle?” As he ran closer to the stairs he could hear her voice clearly, “Who else would it be ghost rider? Can’t trust just anyone with driving the sta-”

 

Kravitz in his excitement cut her off before she could finish, “It’s incredible! I’ve never seen anything like this! You’ve got amazing talent if you can do all this with your evocation specialty. You’re a first class witch, I like your spark!” He managed to get out before rushing back up the staircase to explore more of the living quarters. As he made his way back he heard Lup yell from the background “You’re damn right you do!”

 

As he entered the hall again he bumped into Angus carrying a stack of what seemed to be mystery novels in his arms, “Not ready yet sir please wait a few more minutes.” Quickly running past him as well with what looked to be a half carved wooden duck in hand was Magnus. “What Ango said.” He added as he followed the young arcane apprentice to whatever hiding place they selected for their items.

 

Kravitz hardly paid them any mind at all as he looked through a porthole on a green door seeming to outlook a balcony or deck which wrapped around a good portion of the exterior. Like the window this door was jammed slightly but didn’t throw Kravitz off balance this time once it finally unstuck. Wind rushed in through the door frame causing discarded papers and possible blueprints in the hall to flutter and fly about, and, paying no mind, Kravitz exited the hall and out onto the deck. 

 

The view was even better from this angle. While the bathroom window outlooked the other side of the castle this side showed the foothills surrounding the small valley they found themselves in, much farther from Phandalin then it had been the day prior. Bright Emerald trees dotted the landscape, spread out and sparse enough to allow a view of the most crystalline lake Kravitz had ever seen. It looked almost like a mirror made out of pure sapphire. The still blue water reflected the entire valley back at itself, looking like a portal to another world.

 

“It’s called Astral lake.” a voice said, startling Kravitz out of his admiration for the scenery. He turned to Merle who approached the railing of the deck to peer over it. “It’s incredible.” Kravitz mumbled as he stared, the castle coming to a jolting halt a few seconds later jostling him and Merle. 

 

Merle dusted himself off as he righted himself looking up at Kravitz, “That happens when she parks. I guess nearly a hundred years of practice doesn’t help much.” he yelled back into the open doorway as he entered the castle. Kravitz could hear Lup shout back from down the stairs as Angus came out to the deck. “They do that, it’s never been in bad taste though sir.” He assured, “They’re just all kinda… sarcastic disasters.” 

 

Kravitz couldn’t hold back a laugh at Angus’ words. “I’d assume so. I’m gonna start cleaning once I get back inside so I hope you-”

 

A metallic clank from Kravitz’s side cut him off as he turned towards the source of the noise. A large stick was protruding from the castle just over the railing of the dock. It took Kravitz a second but he realized he recognized it. He made his way over the railing and started trying to dislodge it from where it was stuck in the castle. 

 

“Sir?” Angus asked as he approached Kravitz, leaned precariously over and grasping at the stick. “Would you mind giving me a hand Angus?” Kravitz grunted as his attempts to release the stick seemed futile. Angus simply nodded and helped Kravitz, the two of them pulling eventually unstuck the stick and they pulled it upright.

“Is that a scarecrow?”

 

Kravitz nodded in affirmation. The turnip headed scarecrow seemed to be missing the red robe is had on during their first encounter but it was unmistakably still the same one. After all, how many cursed scarecrows could you run into with an affinity for denim. “He’s the one who led me here. When I first met him he was stuck too. I’ve been thinking of calling him Turnip Jeans.”

 

With that the scarecrow seemed to come to life, startling Angus, and hopped onto a protrusion from the castle, twirling in place and jumping forcefully as if trying to communicate something. “I’m not sure what he wants or how to help him,” Kravitz explained. “If he’s cursed I want to do my best to help him though.”

 

After a bit more discussion about Turnip Jeans Kravitz headed back inside to go through and gather dirty laundry from all of the rooms, carefully placing them into a basket to wash and took them outside in a basket, Angus helping him with the heavy task. Once outside he strung up the clothing on lines, their scarecrow companion jumping in place to offer assistance. 

 

With the chore finished Kravitz and Angus took a small table outside and settled close to the lakes shore, pouring some tea to warm themselves up from the crisp air. “Miss Lup hasn’t moved the castle yet. He probably isn’t dangerous then.” Angus mumbled over a mouthful of a jam cookie as he inspected Turnip Jeans. The gears in his head clearly turning at this new mystery.

 

“I’d doubt it.” Kravitz said, “He lead me here. I’d assume he’s nothing but good.”

 

With that the subject seemed to be dropped, Angus returning inside after a short while. Kravitz instead decided to stay outside longer, the tea filling his bones with warmth as he took a moment to himself. It seemed ironic at the moment but now that he was dead, Kravitz could honestly say he couldn’t recall a time he’d felt more at peace.

 

* * *

 

It was dark. Destruction was all around. He tried to remind himself that this wasn’t what they planned, that this was an unforeseen side effect. All of these people were just dust.

 

Even if Lucretia was able to hide what the war was truly about that didn’t stop the fighting. And while they frantically searched for their relics after realizing that the Hunger and others could still find them it was taking a toll. He was exhausted. 

 

Finally returning to the Starblaster was relieving. The sight of more black glass circles and peppermint villages all because of their relics wasn’t something he wanted to remember right now. He just wanted to forget the fact he had been shot by waring people. The assholes of which had no real idea he was doing his best to help them.

Taako stumbled to a chair that sat in front of the fireplace, she same one Lup said she had first seen a living skeleton fall into not a day earlier. It took no more than a few second of sitting before he heard his sister speak up. “Did you find anything about where the bell might be?” she asked. Taako opened an eye looking at her, “I’m a reclaimer Lulu, Luc has the seekers doing that. She sent me another letter though so there’s probably some leads.” With a small grunt of pain Taako quietly transformed his body back from it’s slightly raven-esqe form back into his own, a gash on his arm showing where he had been struck, and hid it slightly from his sisters view.

 

His mistake was thinking she wouldn’t notice. “I should be out there helping you.” She muttered. “But no I’m stuck like this. Stuck in a fucking fireplace while my brother goes and almost gets himself killed.”

 

“Lulu it’s fi-”

 

“I’ve already lost Barry Taako.” She said sharply, red electricity crackling off of her. “I don’t even know if he’s still a stabilized lich! I…. I can’t lose you too Koko.”

 

A sharp pain of actual emotion hit Taako in the chest. “I’m guessing you didn’t find any trace of him today?” Lup asked aloud knowing the answer. It’s been the same answer for nearly a year. Ever since Barry had left to hid his relic and didn’t come back. Taako swears he’s going to have some choice words when they finally find that nerd for worrying his sister.

 

How could Taako tell her he found an IPRE jacket discarded in the outskirts of Phandalin that day. It would keep her more hopeful if she didn’t know the truth. Taako simply made a noncommittal noise as he got up and out of the chair heading towards the stairs. “Mind heating up some water for a bath Lulu? I wanna get cleaned off after I get our shitty cleric to cast a healing spell on me for once.”

 

A light breathing caught Taako’s attention before he left however. Elven hearing doing it’s proper work. He turned to the source, coming from behind a curtain he had placed in front of a small couch. Lightly brushing the curtain aside he felt his breath catch.

 

The man he’d escorted to the bakery days before was sleeping softly. This man with a fashion sense which was no doubt the trademark of the starblasters most recent resident. Kravitz was back to his regular self, not a glint of bone to be seen in the warm glow of Lup’s fire. His hair falling softly over his shoulders in a way that couldn’t help but draw a sense of fondness out of Taako he would be quick to deny. 

 

“You okay bro?” Lup asked softly, noticing Taako’s change in demeanor.

 

“Just thinking…” He mumbled, letting the curtain softly flutter back into place as he climbed the stairs, not giving any shit about waking Merle so he could finally stop feeling a burning in the gash on his arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a friend of mine mentioned maybe making fan art for this fic last week and i honest to god almost cried. i don't think she knows i write this though since she keeps saying i like stuff by "that person you showed me." i guess this is her queue i'm that person i showed her. though if she doesn't get it now i don't think she ever will lol (also if anyone makes fan art for this like i will actually die, i'll give you my life jesus that would actually destroy me.)


End file.
